Bethune-Thompson House
The Bethune-Thompson House in Williamstown owes its name to two prominent owners — the Reverend John Bethune and explorer David Thompson. But it was Peter Ferguson, an early settler, who first built a house on this site in 1784.
Street address:
19730 John Street
Williamstown, Ontario
Telephone:
613-347-7192
Hours and admissions:
Open year-round to the public free of charge, after 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday, and from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays, by appointment.
Learn more about the provincial plaque commemorating Bethune-Thompson House.
This site is owned by the Ontario Heritage Trust but is operated by tenants and partners.
Adaptive reuse
Guided tours available
National Historic Site (Canada)
Parking
Site has blue and gold provincial plaque
Site is protected by the Ontario Heritage Trust
Washrooms
Photography allowedIts walls were constructed using the French-Canadian "poteaux sur sol" technique, which placed logs in vertical rows held together top and bottom by horizontal plates. Reverend John Bethune (1751-1815), the minister of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Williamstown and the first Presbyterian minister in Upper Canada, acquired the property in 1804. He built a larger house which incorporated Ferguson's home as its kitchen wing. In 1815, the house was acquired by David Thompson (1770-1857), the famous North West Company explorer who mapped much of what is now western Canada.
The Ontario Heritage Trust acquired Bethune-Thompson House in 1977. (Eleven years later, the Trust bought the adjacent worker's cottage, a timber-framed structure from the early 1840s.) The Trust's conservation strategy for Bethune-Thompson House integrated various heritage disciplines to provide a comprehensive approach to recording and restoring the site. Extensive archaeological, architectural and historical research was conducted before the property was restored between 1985 and 1987. The Bethune-Thompson project became a model that the Trust followed in subsequent restorations of its properties.
The Bethune-Thompson House — a National Historic Site — is the oldest residence owned by the Trust.
